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Think Pink!

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Pink shirt day, which raises awareness about the anti-bullying campaign, is just around the corner – Wednesday, shirt-34238_640 (1)
February 24th. To show your support wear some pink on that day, and if you are able drop by the new SA stairway in the Great Hall (SE2) at noon for a group photo. The message is clear “kindness makes a difference.”

Our library collection includes many titles, both print and electronic, on kindness, resilience and assertiveness – here is a small selection, and don’t be shy to stop by and check out more…

Leading with kindness : how good people consistently get superior results by William Baker and Michael O’Malley
 Call #: HD 57.7 B3475 2008 also available as an ebook
Capitalizing on kindness: why 21st century professionals need to be nice by Kristin Tilquist      
  ebook
The wisdom of no escape and the path of loving kindness by Pema Chodron
 Call #: BQ 5625 C48 2001
Coaching for resilience: a practical guide to using positive psychology by Adrienne Greene and John Humphrey
  ebook
Lift: becoming a positive force in any situation by Ryan Quinn and Robert Quinn
  ebook
Raising resilient children by Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein
  Call #: HQ 769 B68175 2001
Assertiveness: how to be strong in every situation by Conrad Potts and Suzanne Potts
 ebook
Giving voice to values: how to speak your mind when you know what’s right by Mary Gentile
 ebook

See you on the 24th – I’ll be the one in pink!

 

New year’s resolutions? We can help….

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The jury seems to be out on whether making new year’s resolutions is a good idea or not, but if you’ve made them, and if you want to stick to them, these titles from our Popular Reading collection might keep you on track…

If you resolved to be more vigilant about your finances, save up for something big or pay down your debt, these books by Gail Vaz-Oxlade provide advice:

  • Money rules : rule your money or your money will rule you
  • Debt-free forever

Or for financial guidance that promises not to be boring and includes zombie and Star Trek references:

  • Wealthing like rabbits : an original introduction to personal finance, by Robert R. Brown

If you resolved to be more organized, check out The Life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo.

Maybe eating healthier, preparing more food at home more is on the menu? If so, we have:

  • At home in the whole food kitchen : celebrating the art of eating well, by Amy Chapin (A James Beard Foundation Award winner )
  • The Oh she glows cookbook, by Angela Liddon
  • Deliciously Ella by Ella Woodward

And if your resolution is simply to read more, browse through our Popular Reading guide – I’m sure you’ll find something that will suit you.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow – Albert Einstein

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TAKE 5 – five featured titles available from BCIT Library:

Check out some new books from the BCIT Library that might inspire a little hope…

The Optimistic Environmentalist : Progressing Towards a Greener Future / by David R. Boyd
Call #: GE 170 B69 2015
It is easy to find statistics, news stories and books that make you despair about the state of the environment. In contrast, this book, described by Publishers Weekly as solidly researched and informative, focusses on environmental success stories of the past fifty years. More than just happy talk, the last chapter is titled “From Optimism to Action” suggesting concrete ways to take action. Bonus: the author is a local lawyer, professor and co-chair of Vancouver’s Greenest City initiative.

Change Everything : Creating an Economy for the Common Good / by Christian Felber
Call #: HD 87 F45 2015
This Austrian economist has created a “blueprint for change”  – an economic model where the balance sheet values human dignity, cooperation and solidarity, ecological sustainability, social justice, democratic co-determination and transparency.
http://www.ecogood.org

Engineering for Sustainable Human Development : A Guide to Successful Small-Scale Community Projects / by Bernard Amadei
Call #: TH 880 A44 2014
By the co-founder of Engineers Without Borders International Network, this book addresses the role of engineering in poverty reduction and human development and discusses how to deliver successful projects in circumstances very different from the developed world.

Peacemakers : How People Around the World are Building a World Free of War /by Douglas Roche
Call #: JZ 5540 R63 2014
Believe it or not “today’s world may be the most peaceful ever. That is the real news, the biggest unreported story.” That is the message from Douglas Roche, lifelong activist, retired politician and author of Peacemakers. To support his position he has interviewed leading peacemakers and profiled their work.

Seeds of Hope : Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants / by Jane Goodall and Gail Hudson
Call #: QK 46.5 H85 G66 2015
“SEEDS OF HOPE takes us from England to Goodall’s home-away-from-home in Africa, deep inside the Gombe forest, where she and the chimpanzees are enchanted by the fig and plum trees they encounter. She introduces us to botanists around the world, as well as places where hope for plants can be found, such as The Millennium Seed Bank, where one billion seeds are preserved.” – publisher description

Open Access Week – October 19 – 25, 2015

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This is the 8th annual worldwide Open Access Week. Advocates of Open Access want to make scholarly output – research data, articles, textbooks, educational resources – easily available to everyone by removing barriers such as restrictive rights and costly fees.

2000px-Open_Access_PLoS_svg

By art designer at PLoS CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Why not celebrate Open Access Week by finding out more about it? We have three Research Guides that will help you get started on your Open journey, start with our Open Primer.

You can also check out some BCCampus open textbooks created by local instructors.

What’s new at the Library this September?

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We’ve added more technology to our collection – in addition to laptops, iPads and tablets we now have a GoPro Hero3 camera available for 2 day loan, two robots – a Kubi telepresence robot for videoconferencing and a Swivl that “turns your mobile device into a presentation delivery tool” – available for 4 day loan and chargers for various kinds of phones and devices if you find you’re on campus and running on empty…

The first ever BCIT Learning Skills Bootcamp launches in the Learning Commons September 21st to 24th. Students can drop in to the Learning Commons to meet this year’s Peer Tutors, learn strategies for academic success and attend short seminars.

We've added more study space on the main floor - day 3 of the term and it's being well used already...

We’ve added more study space on the main floor – day 3 of the term and it’s being well used already…

Writing help will be available online. Starting September 21 – students can submit a draft paper to WriteAway and receive feedback from a peer writing tutor within 48 hours. In person writing help is still available at the Writing Centre in room 207 of the Library, and it’s still free.

The Makerspace Project course has found a home in room 130D in the ehPod for September and October. If you’re interested in 3D printers you can have a look, and if students are in the room working feel free to ask questions. Their projects include printing parts for two 3D printers, which will be assembled for use in MediaWorks. Stay tuned.

And of course there are always new books – too many to mention, but you can always check out the list here…

ASTM Standards Online

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The BCIT library now subscribes to ASTM Compass which provides online access to the current and historical ASTM standards, ejournals and ebooks. There is also a neat feature that allows you to compare the current version of a standard to the previous version. Access is restricted to BCIT faculty, students and staff, login required from off-campus.

Popular Reading Collection Launched

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Need a break? Try a book from our new popular reading collection. These books will go out for two weeks with no reserves and no renewals. The collection includes:

  • new fiction
  • graphic novels
  • memoirs and
  • non-fiction.

You’ll find it on the main floor, just inside the glass doors.

Peer tutor recruitment is underway

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Content, study skills, and writing peer tutors in the Learning Commons are having their best year ever with almost 2800 visits as of spring break – an 8% increase over last year.  What are tutees learning? They tell us of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they developed while working with peer tutors:

  • Organization skills – better thought process – more confidence when going into exams
  • Good methods on how to balance all my studies
  • Became more focused on my work
  • Got better and faster at math
  • Improved my grades and my work ethic

We are now recruiting for tutors for September 2015. We want to develop just as strong a team of peer tutors next year. Job posting and hiring details are available at bcit.ca/learningcommons.

peertutors